Monday, October 17, 2005
7:48 PM
I was having dinner with an acquaintance who happened to be a smoker. After finishing the last morsel of food, he promptly reached into his pocket for his packet of cigarettes. Then, he tapped one end of his cigarette packet against his palm a few times to allow one stick to portrude out of the packet and flicked it deftly onto his lips. Next, he bowed his head slightly, covered his cigarette with one hand, and lit it.
"I hate those kind of smokers" the words came out of his mouth following the first puff of smoke, "they smoking like anything like that in front of children."
Only about five full seconds later did I notice this middle-aged man and his balding father who were happily puffing away beside a young child (who must've been the man's son) at a table across.
Then began the soliloquy.
"I remembered ah, there was once i kan'ed (scolded) a mother in Orchard Road. I was smoking, and there was this mother and child who were walking close beside me. I kept trying to change hand to keep the cigarette away from the child, but the mother keep pushing the child towards my cigarette. So I scolded her 'Eh you don't care about the health of your daughter one ah? Don't push your child to my cigarette lah'. Actually I really don't like smokers who smoke inconsiderately around children. I mean, smoking is my own freedom what, but at least don't smoke in front
of children mah."
In two short minutes, he has justified his habit of smoking, as well as morally elevated himself above other 'inconsiderate smokers', emotively referring children. Well, I'm very disturbed by how easily he condemned other fellow smokers without realising that he was under his own condemnation as well.
Smokers are generally unpopular among non-smokers because they infringe on their freedom to chose to breathe fresh air. It is the smoker's freedom to smoke anywhere they want, but when they chose to smoke near me, there goes my freedom to not breathe in the second hand smoke without having to hold my breathe (and in the process, look like a real cockster).
According to my acquaintance, smoking near children would be inconsiderate. However, if you think about it, how does the fact that I'm not a child make him less inconsiderate when he smokes beside me? By making a distinction between children and adults, he has shifted the goal post; he has lowered the moral standard so that he can be justified and even righteous according to his new standard (which really becomes not much of a standard anymore really).
'Sure, I may be an inconsiderate smoker, but AT LEAST I don't smoke inconsiderately around children. So COMPARED to those inconsiderate smokers, I'm much better than them. Well, balls to them!'
...
Actually, I don't have a grudge against the abovementioned smoker, nor smokers in general. In fact, I find him to be generally quite an easy-going and likeable guy, And personally, I'd rather have smokers like him who are considerate to children than smokers who are not considerate at all.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". In other words, no one is perfect. Let us not forget that, and 'fail to see the plank in (our) own eye' as we try to 'remove the speck from (our) brother's eye'.
Besides, I'm seriously considering taking my first puff sometime soon. Whoops, did I just say that out aloud?
Comments:
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4 comment)
Haha.. scrap all that. Just take that puff. For all u noe, u will hate it even more. I've had mine - but for a reason - to save an already frailing friendship. But in the end, it still became worst so after like 10 puffs in total of 1 month, I've decided against it.
Maybe you'll learn something too?
Maybe you'll learn something too?
Interesting ethical argument. He's stating that he carries out the lesser of two evils. Evil it still is. Don't smoke. Anything that has the ability to control oneself should be avoided by principle.
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# posted by 
: 7:01 PM
: 7:01 PM